On Friday, we found out that Molly was being sassy and disruptive at the end of nap time. This has been an on/off, but infrequent problem up until the last couple of weeks. We talked to her about it. We confiscated Mr. Duck and Barbie until further notice. Tears were shed. Promises were made. We started fresh on Saturday and had a great weekend and tons of fun bouncing from birthday party to birthday party. Then came Sunday night. Betsy, Susie, Archie, Sean, and James came over for a BBQ and Molly was an absolute wreck. She practically head butted James when he sat on her piece of paper and earned herself a timeout. After that, she was either crying hysterically, or singing maniacally, with no in between. We hustled her up for an early bedtime and blamed it on sugar.
Today was more of the same. Once again, she failed to listen to her teacher at the end of nap time and was disrespectful. She didn't even seem to take Jason and I seriously when we tried to talk to her about it. Duck and Barbie are still gone, so we told her no birthday parties this weekend unless she listens (two are scheduled, so this is a pretty big consequence). We said she could earn the right to go with good behavior and that we'd talk to her teachers at the end of each day. We talked about how it feels when people don't listen and tried to reinforce the positives. Everyone is happy and life is fun when people listen and are nice to one another, right?
Molly ate dinner like a champ and played happily for a few hours...and then proceeded to ignore me completely when I asked her to pick up her toys and head up to bed. She shifted to full-on brat mode in the blink of an eye and got sent to bed without books or songs. Again, tears were shed. Promises were made. Pinkie promises. But I'm not sure I believe her. She seems concerned that Jason is going to call the cops on her. And I know she desperately wants to go to the parties this weekend. But she doesn't seem to understand why she needs to listen to and respect her parents and teachers. It seems almost worse to me that she picks and chooses who she is going to obey. What to do? What to do? Comments are welcome. As are book recommendations. I need some help here! Gotta reverse this trend before it gets any worse.
Oh, man. I feel ya! My suggestion is you and I hit the bar and leave the guys home with the girls. We've seen some decent results using a sticker award chart for Elaine. She gets a sticker for good behavior (e.g., sharing, good listening ears) and when she gets to 5 she gets a reward. Google "reward charts" and you can read about different tactics using them.
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